"Davis and the Jake-Man" is a technology news website discussing subjects of note in the IT industry.

6.20.2016

The Last Generation of Consoles

Well everyone, this might be it. Rumors abound of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One receiving mid-generation upgrades may have signaled the end of console generations as we know it.

Last month, Phil Spencer hinted during the Xbox Spring Showcase that Microsoft is working on new hardware that would allow forward and backward compatibility for Xbox One games. This would allow Microsoft to focus on improving the Xbox One without fear of “invalidating the games that run on that platform.” In other words, new games built for the “Xbox One and a Half” will run perfectly fine on your Xbox One.

A few weeks later, Kotaku reported that Sony may be developing a “Playstation 4.5” with increased processing power and support for 4K resolution. These new specs will be important if Sony wants its upcoming Playstation VR to stand against the PC market’s Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

As of now, these updates to the Xbox One and Playstation 4 seem to be standalone consoles, and not individual components like in a PC. This is mixed news for consumers, as they will have to buy another edition of their current console, but won’t have to go through the likely warranty voiding hassle of taking their machine apart.

Also on the horizon is Nintendo’s next console, codenamed “NX", which was covered in Episode 3 of the Davis & the Jake-Man podcast. We gave our predictions of the upcoming mid-generation Xbox and PlayStation refreshes in Episode 5 of D&theJM.